monday......

chinese buffet. what does that sound like to you? buffet. anything? well, i am not usually a fan of buffets as they are either overly expensive - i.e. mother's day/easter - or they just plain suck. lately, my buddy over @ ohdog.org has suggested some wonderful restaurants. his motivation is locale and decor, whereas mine is food. now, i feel i have high standards, but sometimes, i color outside the lines. for the past few weeks, i've patronized the golden dragon, an interesting buffet on sw 4th. it's one of those places that is old school - you enter on ground level, but need to walk up narrow stairs to the restaurant on the 2nd floor. this specific buffet is $5 and offers a ton of options. if you're on a diet or are concious about your eating, DO NOT GO! oh, and if you have issues with deep fried fat, salt, freak shows, meat, cleanliness, cockroaches, and the general lack of quality, don't go. I LOVE IT! I enjoy showing up in my work clothes - shirt, slacks, shoulder bag - filling up a plate and sitting in a booth. everyone around me is the same - wondering who is this - why is he here? he could go anywhere. needless to say, this isn't a locale i would take my friends to. too bad. also, i gotta watch it or i will end up like the obese woman who took up a whole booth and had 6-8 empty plates at her table. it was hard not to take a photo.

Back to Portland. Awhile back, I mentioned Lownsdale. Well, soon, I will have some more info. tc.

Fishing

Went fishing on Saturday morning. Yeh, me fishing, go figure. If you don't know me, which most of you probably don't, I'm not a hunter/fisher. I couldn't stand fishing because it was sooooooo boring. These are memories from my childhood. Don't you also have those memories of going out in the cold wet river and just sitting there waiting for a bite. Yeh, remember? He Heee. Well, a year ago, my brother turned me back on to fishing. I went to a Sturgeon derby with him and my father, both avid fisherman. I was so green at fishing I didn't even own the right clothes to fish in. I showed up in Diesel jeans, a J Crew sweater, Pumas and a Von Dutch baseball cap. I was the best dressed fisherman there. Playing the naive game, my brother was more than willing to bait my hook and everything. I loved that. Over the course of the derby - 5 hrs - I caught the most fish. None of them were keepers, but I was the better fisher.
On Saturday, we began our day on he Columbia just north of Kelley point. If you've never been out on the Columbia at this point, it's kinda surreal. On the weekend (and probably weekdays also) there are large container/grain/fuel ships anchored in the river. It amazes me that they are anchored in the middle of the river, just hangin' out. I make up stories about who's on board, where the boat's been, what may be going one that we don't know about and so forth. Well, I digress.....
Fishing for the first hr was bunk, so we moved on down to the Willamette. I was cold, but excited. I have always wanted to see Sauvies Island, Linnton, St. Johns, The St. Johns Bridge, North Portland, University of Portland, NW Portland Industrial and so forth from a river angle. We cruise through that whole area whilst the sun was rising. It was amazing. Amazing!

Steel Bridge early morning and St. Johns Bridge

We ended up down by the Rose Quarter - between the Steel and Broadway bridges. From our spot @ 9am, it felt like the city was asleep and we had a unique view on it, knowing it was very much alive and kicking.

Over the course of the next few hrs, we caught 4 Sturgeon. My bro caught a 38" and I caught a 35" - you need 42" to keep.

His Mine
The Sturgeon is such a strange pre-historic fish, I can't help but be insanely excited about catching one. My bro just chuckles when I pull in a 16" fish and want to take multiple photos of it - with my cameraphone. I'm such a geek.
Well, the day ended well. I am a big fan of fishin' now. Weeeeeee.

Portland in Summer

broadway
Originally uploaded by _Superinkygirl.

Oh, I mean spring. Oh, I mean winter. Yes, 33 deg @ 6am and 63 deg @ 3pm. Wow, 30 deg change in 9 hrs. I feel like I'm in a different climate. This view is down broadway with the sun.
Today was an uneventful day. Not much to report. I did do some walking and some photoging. It all started out this morning with photos of the drug bust a block away from my home. This locale, an apartment has always been on my list of suspects. It all began when I saw the first webcam in the window. Hmmm. When the webcam was upgraded and then moved to the eve, the wonders grew. This morning at around 8am, I came accross two officers and what appeared to be a hazmat grew. Someone was getting arrested and the officers had thick rubber gloves and masks on. So, meth? other?

Danmore Hotel sign

Danmore Hotel sign
Originally uploaded by Brett Burmeister.

Today was a great day - 60 in February. All I can say is this:
November - Bushy elected
November - locusts in Israel
December - snow in United Emerites
December - Tsunami
January - California floods
February - Iran earthquake
February - California floods
February - Amazing weather in Portland
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
So, today, I discovered that the park closest to my office - accross from the Multnomah county courthose is named after Henry Lownsdale, a founder of Portland. Now, I know Portland History, but had never heard of Mr. Lownsdale. I am currently doing some more research on Mr. Lownsdale, so I'll post that a little later. Needless to say, he owned Portland at one time. Chew on that for awhile.
My walk home took me toward the Pearl (John Hausman voice). I needed to hit Whole Foods for some grub. As I was walking and thinking about what to photog, I came upon the Danmoore Hotel. Old; decrepit; run down - probably not the type of hotel you'd find on Expedia. Not that that's bad. It has a place in this world and probably a wonderful history. I am most intrigued by the sign. Probably the original sign from when the hotel opened. This got me to thinking - let's photog old hotel signs like those in my hood down Interstate.

Once I hit the store and moved on, it was a wonderful walk through the Pearl and down to the park blocks and then over the Steel Bridge. Just before the bridge, I eyed this cool old building -probably an old firestation or the like. It appears to be abandoned and is on city land according to tax records. I think because of it's locale, it would be a cool club/restaurant/bar. Out of the way. One could have secret maps on how to park and such.
Once accross the river I came accross something I saw a few weeks ago that just pissed me off. Directly accross from the Coleseum and Rose Garden is an old hotel - the old location of Mucho Grande, the home of the largest margarita. Well, now it is being used to house workers for Central City Concern, one of Portland's support organizations for the homeless. Mind you, I dont' want to disparage the homeless or Portland's efforts to assist them and find them jobs, yet when you take a prime local like this hotel and use it for housing, that is the wrong decision. Portland already has issues with attracting marquee conventions even though we have a great convention center because we do not have enough hotel rooms in the city. Further, would you stay in any of the hotels on the east side by the rose garden or convention center? I wouldn't. They all seem so old and cheap and a little white trash. If Portland owns this location, they should tear it down and rebuild. They could probably pay for it by charging $9 for parking during events (the rose garden charges $10 and is always full.)

The sign on the side states that it is the Rose Quarter Work Force Housing Center.
Tonight we're off to see Climber and Bettie Seeveert @ the Doug Fir.

what not to do during lunch

not during lunch
Originally uploaded by Brett Burmeister.

walking out of the office, first admiring the nakek sculpture and thinking - should i photgraph it - no - then I hear the crunch of metal and steel and see people pause and turn around. an accident. not your normal run of the mill accident, but someone who was stumbling and ran into a post in front of no less than 5 police officers. if you are going to crash, don't do it in front of the courthouse.
I was on my way out to do some walking around downtown and some documenting of pdx life when I paused and photoged the crash. I proceeded down the street laughing, thinking of how I would blog about this. I then came accross the University Club, one of Portland's oldest private members only clubs.

Opened in the 1890's, it has become an exclusive locale for Portlands entrepreneurs and elite. I'm not dissing this locale. I would mind to partake in the offerings. Also, those of power don't allow cell phones:
Next to the University Club is a wonderful apartment building. I would love to film a movie or write a book about this place:

Next up, another veiw into Portland art and architecture. This building offers a wonderful mural. The Oregon Historical Society is housed in this building.

Lastly, we ended the evening catching the end of American Idol. We're scared about what we see.

is she? is she grabbing something? wow, with the latest crackdown on anything not morally sound, I am surprised this wasn't fuzzed out. she is, isn't she?

Walking? yes and no.

new light in landing
Originally uploaded by Brett Burmeister.

I haven't been out walking our great city for awhile. Not sure why, just life has decided I needed to do some other tasks. One of those tasks did keep me moving - installing the lights/lamps in our master bedroom. This is a project we've been working on for over a year or two and this past week/weekend, I installed and powered up the new lights. They look wonderful.
We did some estate sales. I got the bug to get back to the estate sales from Scott @ Ohdog. We used to be very dilligent about getting up dirt early, grabbing grub and hitting the sale line @ 8am and waiting for numbers. If you're not an estate saler, you probably don't understand that. DON'T SEEK IT OUT!
Our sale experience was sub-par. First place introduced us to the dealer disquised as an estate sale. Further, one of the sellers offered me a piece of cold pizza for $1.25. (shivvers). Second sale was just as opposite - this one had more people working the sale than actually coming to buy. I ran into the same employees in every room as if I was being stalked by them. I did get some treasures during our trip, but nothing extraordinary.
Sunday took us to an antique fair where I got the sudden bug to seek out old postcards, maps, manuals etc that reference portland. Thanks Stumptown Confidential and the site about History of Portland through Postcards. Alas, I didn't have the time to go through all the cards, but did find some treasures. And, we walked a ton.
Lastly, I came accross some strange games - All In the Family board game - what the hell? Six Million Dollar Man - a little mor plausible.

What would be available today?
24, the board game - you too can be a super cool spy with extremely bad luck. .
Fear Factor - come eat bugs and racoon poop with us.
Desparate Housewives - get together with your neighors and swap - well, swap whatever.
Alias - everyone has the change thier clothes every 3 minutes - and someone needs to be half naked.

This coming week I plan on doing some serious walking. The weather has been amazing, so I want to take advantage. I'm hoping to figure out some new routes home.

Hunter S. Thompson - RIP

Just heard Hunter S. Thompson took his life today. Sad news. I've always enjoyed the antics of this wonderful jounalist and his style of Gonzo jounalism. Prayers to family and freinds. More.

Dan and Louis Oyster Bar

Eating out at the local oyster bar. I know, I know, the picture doesn't do the place justice. On our way out tonight, I saw the sign with a 1907 date on it. WOW, that's an old restaurant. We had a wonderful time. We had a craving for some crab and fish, so tried something new. The restaurant felt like we were in the hold of a ship - in a positive way. The decor was a mix between wood and mounted plates and old photos of Portland. Our food was great, especially the Oysters on the half shell. MMM MMM MMMMMMM.
After din din, we headed back to the Doug Fir - did I say I liked this place yet? If not..... Well, we showed up for our free show with SuckaPunch and Subtle, two hip-hop/electronica groups. It was great to hear that music in the Doug Fir's venue. I loved the people watching the most. We're talking about a band that mainstreem America would call RAP and Portland showed up as hipsters, college frat boys, a few punks, a few bike nazis, a few boomers - typical Portland crowd. I love it. And the band was great. Did I mention I love the Doug Fir?

Quiet week

travel the nation
Originally uploaded by Brett Burmeister.

Well, the three day weekend is upon us, so naturally we need to go out on Friday night. I remember college when we would find reasons to party -
new girlfriend- party
flunk test - party (because your depressed.)
pass test - party (celebratory)
some sports team wins - party (just because)
holiday - party
friends party - party!
you get the picture.
Tonight, we started of at the wonderful Doug Fir Lounge in LoBu. A small aside - the Portland Tribune refered to the Lower Burnside area as LoBo instead of LoBu. I love the Doug Fir, I love the atmosphere, the drinks, the deco, the attitude, the shows, the free shows and the non-smoking. Tonight @ 5:15, we met for happy hr and it was packed. Alas, we decided we didn't want to stand, so we migrated over to the Galaxy, another wonderful Puddletown locale. The Galaxy offered strong drinks and a quiet atmoshere. We're on our way to the next locale as I write this - I'll blog from the road - is that nerdy?

American Idol

so, we're competing:
we're both picking 3 guys and 3 gals. so who wins.
Anna's picks:
Anwar
Anthony F.
Scott S.
nadia
lindsay C.
vonzell S.


Brett's Picks:
Anthony
Constatnine
Joseph M.
nadia
jessica
Amanda

over the next 2-3 days, we'll decide the weight of each individuals accomplishments with regards to our picks. we'll create some random algorithm that equates with the passion and emotion and our individual whims to create a scale for our judging.

and since this is brett's blog, he'll probably win.

brett

Props to Marv

Nothing to do with walking, but I gotta give props to Marv for sticking it to the man. Check it out - Marv's method for fudging Napster.

Customs house

customs house
Originally uploaded by Brett Burmeister.

Happy Valentine's day. Today, I didn't get in as much walking as preferred as I had to get home to make a nice dinner for my love. My evening walk took me to Whole Foods in the Pearl (pronounced the peaaarlllllll.) On the way, I saw some great architecture. One building had a fish swimming through, another had what looked like little birdhouses incorporated into the architecture. One building I've always loved has a top floor/roof that reminds me of France. Not sure why, but I want to live up there. After Whole Foods, I ventured down to the North Park blocks where I found my buddy the elephant. I love this sculpture and if I were a kid, I would have attempted to climb it. Then on to the picture highlighted today. The U.S. Customs House. Currently vacated, it was the primary location for customs, the INS and Federal Courthouse. A close friend spent many an hour here working through his quest to stay in America. It's cathartic to think this may become a boutique hotel.
During my walk, I came accross some abandoned shoes. Since Christmas, I've come accross gloves, scarves, shoes, pants etc. I keep wondering, if I would have picked them all up, would I have a new wardrobe? Hmmm.
Reminds me of France
Gotta love old architecture.
Fish swimming through building.

NorthStar Ballroom

northstarballroom
Originally uploaded by Brett Burmeister.

Anna and I went for a great walk to take care of some errands Sunday. Our walk took us up Albina past PCC Cascade to Ainsworth. At the corner of N. Ainsworth and N. Albina, there is Peninsula park, one of Portland's large rose gardens. Check it out for excellent rose varieties. If you don't know, Portland is known as the Rose City.... As we walked down Ainsworth, we kept saying - hmmm, I don't remember that house. Yes, we came accross some amazing houses with some beautiful architecture. MMMMM yummy houses.... We ended up @ Safeway to get concert tickets which were sold out and then proceeded home via MLK and then Killingsworth. Off Killingswork by PCC, we came accross the NorthStar Ballroom. A gem in N. Portland. I've always wished to celebrate something there - maybe the next Brettenium.
Oh, and we had the pups too. Look closely and you'll see Anna and the pups.

don't jump! don't

skeleton
Originally uploaded by Brett Burmeister.

it may be too late for that.....

I love public art. This sculpture is atop Star-E-Rose cafe on NE Alberta. Tuesday's walk took me up there via the #9 bus in order to get to Healthy Pets NW for dog food. We were under the impression they closed at 5pm, but they are actually open until 7. Anna couldn't make the store visit, so I volunteered. Can't let the little ones go hungry. I started my walk around 27th and NE Alberta. Nothing much new to report other than a few of the older buildings being renovated and re-purposed (is that a word?) This is much more fun than tearing down the old and building something new. Which brings me to today's discussion point - what's up with sheet metal. I'm all for redevelopment, growth, change etc. I love it. I love the Pearl, Mississippi ave, NW, S. Waterfront- etc. It has to be done well, but I'm all for it.
NE Alberta began as a group of art galleries who found inexpensive rent/lease/own situations in an area where gang violence was the norm. NE Portland 10 years ago was a mess. It took a few brave souls and some tenacity to stick it out. Now NE Alberta is known as the Alberta Arts District. There are children's stores, restaurants, bars, grocery stores, gardening stores, clothing stores and salons. Every last Thursday of the month they open it all up and have an art fair. I love it. In the past 8 years, most small businesses (no Starbuck's or GAP) have re-done existing buildings keeping the general cozy feeling of the street. The past three years has brought a few new buildings - completely new architecture, style and color. In the last year, two or three buildings have shown up with garish severe lines and bright orange colors and sheet metal siding. Wow! Where does this style come from? I don't want it to sound like I don't like it, I actually do, yet what is the purpose of putting us such a modern building with a modern style amongst these older cozy buildings. Maybe someone has a thought.


Oh, and let's not forget what I would like for my birthday:

Some perspective re: starting picture:

GRRRRR

tiger
Originally uploaded by Brett Burmeister.

I've always been fascinated by buildings. Maybe I should have become an architect or demolition guy. hmmmmm. I decided to take my walk home today via the Hawthorne bridge, into central SE, over to Rejuvenation, up MLK, over on Lloyd, up N. Williams, left on Fremont, right on Mississippi and them home via Skidmore.....
So, old buildings. As I crossed the bridge to SE Portland, I began to ruminize about the oldish buildings in the inner SE industrial zone. This area seems to have been ignored by most of the City for the past 20 yrs. It's industrial and has a lot to offer, but sometimes ignored. From the Hawthorne Bridge, one of Portland's oldest @ 94yrs, one proceeds on elevated roadways until they reach MLK where it decends down to "street" level. These elevated roads cut through this SE industrial neighborhood, but not smoothly. There are a few buildings that show the aesthetic that once was. Buildings that are cool, architecturally significant, and now shunned. Once again, I never noticed these building when driving at street level under the viaducts, nor when heading downtown via Hawthorne or coming back via Hawthorne. I love walking.

Once I crossed over into SE, I ventured up to Rejuvenation to pick up some lighing fixture accessories. Next was the walk up MLK. What a colorful street. There is some amazing architecture - Rose and Raindrop, East Bank Saloon, K something furnature store, etc. Once I got to the convo center and then into NoPo, I was back in my old stomping grounds. Nothing new to report there.
Another day, another walk. I love it. My pedo says 10,001, yet in past days, a walk like this usually generates 16-19,000 steps. I think my pedo is wrong.
Hawthorne Bridge today:
Lastly, next time you get into an accident and trash your headlighs, just wire up a flashlight.

holiness or hell church sign

holiness in hell church sign
Originally uploaded by Brett Burmeister.

We'll get to the sign soon enough. We went for a great walk around the hood today. Not sure where to start, but I'll try. Our initial purpose was to get crepes for breakfast and return the dvd's from Friday night. Well, three hours later, we'd walked all around nopo.
We began our walk with a nice visit to The Albina Press (mentioned in earlier posts). I love that coffee shop because it is open and welcoming and the staff is wonderful. Me with my medium Stumptown latte and Anna with her Americano, we were off. East on Blandena to Williams and then south to the crepe place, we came accross some great stuff. One item, the Old Kelley Tire location - someone has either setup home there behind the fence (there's a cool airstreem there) or people are having fun before the building is demolished.
The Kelly tire building is like any tire repair place which an open area for vehicles to drive in and get fixed. This location was for larger rigs, so the bay area is much wider and taller than most places. An excellent graffiti artist with a wonderful imagination has done a work of art on the building and the bays. It appears to be a story created with characters and superheroes.

Further down Williams, we came accross the building where Scrap is relocating to. Scrap is a community organization for crafters. Scrap is associated with the Rebuilding Centeer.

Finally, we arrive at Crepe Soleil, a new Crepery in North East Portland. I want to claim it in NoPo, yet it is on Williams and Williams is the division between North and NorthEast Portland. To begin with, we didn't have any money, so had to venture further to a cash machine at Emanual hospital. Back to Crepe Soliel in a bit.
Dawson Park between N Vancouver and NE Williams has an interesting dome in the SE corner. This dome has a plaque that tells us the dome was part of a main building in the former city of Albina, incorporated in 1887 and annexed by Portland in 1892. We'd heard stories of Albina being the largest city on the west coast during this time, larger than Portland. The former Mayor of Albina built this building and it stood on the corner of Williams and Russell until it was demolished to make way for a hospital expansion that never came to be. Too bad. History is sometimes lost to growth.
Crepe Soliel - yes, we finally arrived and got some food. By now, it was too late for Breakfast, but then again, a crepe doesn't necessarily know what time of day it is. I had a wonderful crepe with avocado, green onions, artichoke, palm sauce, and fresh cilantro- topped with parmesan cheese. Yummy. Anna had a crepe with fresh spinach, minced garlic, bruschetta and mushrooms topped with feta cheese. Equally Yummy. We both were just in heaven with the complex flavors and savory taste. They were very fresh also. To finish off the morning, we had a sweet crepe - The Polygono - banana, nutella and whip cream. OMG - OMG. What a great way to finish a meal or begin the rest of the day. Crepe Soliel offers many other choices for Crepes and is a venue for coffee, live music and art - had to put the plug in for a neighborhood locale.
After filling ourselves with food, we proceeded on our intended walk to the video store. Nothing new to report here other than MKL is a busy street. We returned to our side of the hood via Killingsworth and decided to stop at a couple locale's to waste some time. First off, we visited Rancho Deluxe, one of those Antique stores that seems to be above everyone else. Above even talking to you when you purchase something. I visited the store a few years ago and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Well, nothing's changed. We moseyed further down the street where we came upon the Holiness or Hell Church of God in Christ. We've always wondered about this locale since it's in the same building with the Lovlee Ladee sign. hmmmmm.

Well, the walk proceeds further down Killingsworth where we visited another vintage store and asian market and then turned south to shortcut home. Alas, we couldn't go on a walk without seeing the NoPo Po- or in other words, the Po Po - Portland Police. Yes, 6-7 cop cars surrounding a block - nothing really looked like it was going on, but what do we know. The walk ended with a nice walk again accross Skidmore bridge and home to the pups.